Distillate brass and wood cleaning

[brainiac]

Does anyone know if the bridge on a Distillate was coated with any sort of clear finish from the plant? I have taken all the brass off for cleaning and maybe to put more life into it (any suggestions welcome) and the bridge piece has some kind of clear coat. Also how about polishing the wood and then cleaning the neck and frets? TIA

[mica]

The bridge is just polished brass. We use Flitz to clean it, but you can safely use just about any brass cleaner. We like the Flitz because the paste is easy to control where it goes (and doesn't go).
 
The tailpiece is probably coated with polyester. You'll have to abrasively remove this coating to clean it. You can sand off the coating, then buff it up to a high gloss. You'll likely want to use a Dremel tool or similar to save on the elbow grease.
 
For the finished parts of the bass, use guitar polish (we make a nice one) or plastic polish since your finish is either polyurethane or polyester. Don't use furniture polish.  
 
Clean the fingerboard with lemon oil. You'll be surprised how clean this gets the frets too.  
 
Are the frets in good shape? If they aren't you should probably take your bass to a professional repair person to get them milled, then they will take care of polishing them for you.

[brainiac]

Yes, my mistake, it's the tailpiece I was referring to that has the clear coat, not the bridge. That's what I needed to know, if it was ok to remove this coating and then address the brass underneath.
 
Regarding the nut, can I safely remove it to buff or should I avoid that?
 
And the lemon oil on neck, do I take any precaution about the position markers (mother of pearl?) or will it not hurt them? The frets are in very nice shape.
 
Thanks for the advice.

[pauldo]

On my Distillate the bridge saddles have tiny grooves from years of round wounds. What is the safest way to remove them (the tiny grooves)? I recall hearing that if one takes a file to them that it is important to keep a slight angle 'up' towards the neck. ? ?

[bassman10096]

I had a real problem with my first Alembic's tailpiece -- the poly had worn so badly that it wouldn't clean up right.  I sanded the tailpiece using 800 grit paper and finer steel wool (Not sure which grade --- and remember to get all the filings off before putting the piece anywhere near your pickups).  I was very nervous about using any power tools for fear of taking off more brass than necessary.  Needless to say, it took a couple of hours (while watching TV).  But once the poly breaks through in a spot or two, it comes off without too much trouble.  It buffed up beautifully and oxidized evenly afterward, at the same pace as the bridge.

[David Houck]

I cleaned up the grooves on my bridge saddles with a needle file that I purchased at a hobby shop; that and a magnifying glass.